Lost in the Circle
by Aldara-Nerita
Summary: A weapon does not care who uses it - it has no allegiance. It will face anyone with consistent destruction. However, it cannot kill on its own. In order for that action to occur, it requires someone else with the will and desire to pull the trigger.


I normally don't write things spur-of-the-moment, but I knew if I didn't write it down immediately I would lose the image I saw. This is what I came up with when I combined extended sickness, frustration, and a good, but brief anime story.

**Disclaimer: **I do not own anything of Blue Submarine No. 6 except my own characters and interpretations. The original story is owned by Gonzo, with the English adaptation licensed by Bandai Entertainment. Please support the official release by visiting our heroes online!

* * *

"Lost in the Circle"

The old man wiped his brow free of sweat as the sun beat down mercilessly. Lowering his hand from his eyes, he felt the pistol held in his fingers become heavier than before. It trembled and shook in his grasp, in sync to the speed of his breathing.

He heard the water lapping against the dock, the broken boards creaking against the force of the ocean pressing against them. They rubbed and groaned, calling out in agony as they moved.

Further up the dock lay the barren shore sprinkled with concrete, twisted metal, and shattered wood. The remains of the coast lay in an unnerving silence, when mere hours before it was filled with bustling sounds of bicycles, car horns, and laughter. Then the tidal wave came and washed everything away.

The man had grown accustomed to the noise over the past few decades. He had come to welcome it every morning, smiling, and allowing it to bring him to each new day. It greeted him with energy and promise. However, now everything had changed.

The whiskers of his beard shook as he licked his lips, trying to clear the stinging of the salt in the cracks. Looking downward again, his eyes came to rest upon the body of the female hybrid. She lay sprawled on her back, dull colored against the mossy wood, and her delicate fins glistened in the sunlight. The streamlined figure could have been called beautiful, if not it had been stained with the splatter of blood.

Her torso bore the bullet hole that had taken her life. The red fluid that at one time gave her motion now dripped between the crevices of the dock to the froth below.

The man swallowed again, and he felt his chest sink in exhaustion. The anger he had felt before had been extinguished. He had come out here, terrorized and almost in a frenzy of madness. The lady in the water had leapt at him, and after a moment's hesitation to gaze upon the creature with a fantasy-like horror, he pulled out the last weapon that he had kept.

The sound of the gun had been so satisfying, sweet as the vengeance he had heard all about in movies and books. But now...now that the creature lay dead in front of him, he felt nothing. No victory. No sense of accomplishment. Nothing but emptiness.

He had gotten his revenge for the death of his family, but the action didn't magically bring them back to life. He was as alone as ever, and the realization of that made him feel older by the second.

With a sudden bout of disgust, the man tossed the gun aside, hearing it slam onto the dock and skid a short distance away.

The man would have stared at the water creature for hours if not the silence had been shattered by an angelic shriek. Turning his head, he caught another female popping her eyes from the surface of the water just a few yards away. She stared, blue eyes wide with shock, as she saw the fins of her sister draped over the edge towards the sea.

Ignoring the human staring quietly at her, the sister raced up to her sibling, breaching from the ocean to crash onto the dock beside the other. The second hybrid paused, looking into her sister's face, then reached out to touch it carefully. The woman from the water stroked her sister's cheeks gently, crooning with a sadness that echoed the thousands of memories it spoke of. It called out in earnest, repeating its name in song over and over again. But the dead sister never moved.

The female whimpered, pulling her fingers close to her mouth in fright. The man watched in awe, confused and lost as to what he was seeing. These strange creatures had taken away everything from everyone he knew...and yet here he was witnessing it express sadness and loneliness at its own personal loss. It transfixed him, preventing him from moving. What was this sensation he was experiencing?

After what seemed like an eternity, the second female leaned back, resting her hand on the arm of her sibling with a soft sigh. Then turning her head, she locked gazes with the old man, and her eyes shone in the sunlight a brilliant blue. They burned at him. He gasped to step backwards in surprise.

The hybrid pulled herself on all fours, much more quickly than the man had expected for an aquatic creature, and arched her back in a cat-like hiss. She bared her fangs, water shimmering on her face, and shook her head menacingly at him in anger.

"I..." the man tried to speak, but the creature interrupted him with a snarl. In a blur of yellow and orange, she launched herself forward and, with one big sweep of her legs, struck the man in his own. The old man had no chance to keep his balance or evade the attack, and he allowed himself to collapse harshly to the wooden dock, feeling a few boards snap in annoyance.

The sky swirled above him as he regained his senses slowly, and when he did, he rolled his head to find the hybrid woman on her knees, propped up by one hand, and in the other she held his gun. She pointed it directly at his heart, fingers shaking as she hissed and growled fiercely.

The man took in the scene for a second, and then sighed heavily as he closed his eyes. He opened them slowly to look blankly back at the sky, noticing the clouds move gently in the ocean breeze. The sun blazed dazzlingly, causing the ocean to sparkle.

The hybrid paused in her hiss, confused at his reaction. Had she been expecting him to defend himself?

"Go ahead and shoot, if you wish," he said gruffly. "I'm too old to get away, anyway." The woman from the water hesitated, cocking her head slightly at his words. But she didn't lower the weapon.

"What are you waiting for?" he asked the creature, as if she would understand him. "I'm not going to get up. There is nothing for me to gain, nor anywhere for me to go. And I can't take back what I've done to you. She must have been special to you." As he spoke, his eyes drifted back along his legs towards the body of the dead female. As his eyes moved, the hissing became audible again with renewed vigor. The female shuffled forward, and she placed the gun against the old man's forehead.

Leaning over, she looked at him straight on in the eyes, and the man became lost in them. They swam with colors and a depth unlike anything he had ever seen before, and he realized that behind them lay emotions and intelligence not unlike his own. And he understood.

"You hurt the same, don't you?" he asked. He could feel the cold steel of the gun trembled against his skin. "You took everything from me. My friends, my business, and my precious granddaughter." He sighed again.

"I thought that I could feel a sense of justice by taking something of value away from you, but I was sorely disappointed. The only thing that my hatred revealed for me was emptiness. But I deserve nothing less than this for my own murderous action."

He looked at the hybrid again. She was shaking so violently that tears and water from her skin sprinkled on the old man. Rivulets flowed from her azure eyes, and the old man wanted to weep with her at seeing the physical result of such pain.

"My hatred and anger has brought me revenge, but I realize now that there is no lasting value in that. But you are welcome to take yours. I see the circle we're both lost in, and I don't blame you for being in it. Whatever your choice, creature, I will not hold it against you."

He sighed deeply as he closed his eyes to the world, resting for the moment. This must have angered the hybrid female, because he felt her stiffen and snarl again. He chose not look at her, though. He wished not to see his previously boiling anger and current overwhelming sadness reflected at him. It would be like leaning over the dock's edge and seeing himself, pointing the gun directly at his own being.

And the next instant, the entire audible world became engulfed in a loud bang as she chose to pull the trigger.


End file.
